Published On: July 13, 2017By
LMS Review Docebo 7 (Updated for 2017)

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The Docebo LMS has come a long way since we first reviewed it in 2014.  Here was my assessment at that time:

Docebo is an excellent option for your first or second internal or extended enterprise LMS.  It can manage elearning, ILT, dozens of languages, social integration, gamification, virtual classrooms and ecommerce.  It is easy to start, use, integrate, manage and license.  Based on the company’s rapid pace of development and ‘connector’ strategy, you will be hearing more about this platform.

In 2017, all of that remains true, but Docebo has grown in functionality and in the company’s ability to deliver.  Three years ago, this vendor was happy to gobble up even the smallest LMS customers who educated and sold themselves via a free trial.  The self-service capability is still in place, but the business model and pricing are now geared towards disrupting the highly competitive mid/large global market.

Docebo has built a pure cloud LMS that now supports over 1200 customers.  (By the way, it’s pronounced “doe-chay-bo” and not “doe-see-bo” or “dos-a-bo.”)  The company has grown its U.S. sales team to handle more sophisticated learning technology buying opportunities and RFPs, and has expanded implementation and support services staff to provide a higher level of help, guidance, expertise and ongoing support.

Noteworthy new product features include:

  • More language ”localizations,” and the ability to add new or modify existing translations
  • Built-in ecommerce capabilities, rather than relying solely on Shopify integration — now a tighter, more unified system
  • Supports content subscriptions
  • Mobile apps with offline content support and text push notifications
  • Salesforce.com and other new third-party app integrations, out-of-the-box
  • Substantial new capabilities for coaching, sharing and mentoring
  • Supports user-generated content and ability to create private or shared channels (playlists)

Docebo LMS is designed to support straightforward training and elearning scenarios — easily.  The system uses a “connector” strategy to extend the core application with its own add-on functionality, third-party functionality, and much more.

Of all the LMS solutions we’ve reviewed, Docebo offers one of the most robust and fastest growing connector libraries.  This connector marketplace emulates the Apple or Android store, where you can shop for free or paid apps, download, install and use immediately.  With the connector strategy, you can turn on and pay for only the exact functionality you need, when you need it.  I installed a bunch of Docebo and third-party apps, and the process worked well.  This strategy positions Docebo as easier to use for organizations with limited needs, yet also provides the power to extend the platform for those customers who need industrial-strength customization — the way they want to configure it.

Watch the video review of Docebo LMS by John Leh, Lead Analyst at Talented Learning

WATCH JOHN LEH’S VIDEO REVIEW OF DOCEBO LMS NOW!

Strengths

Docebo LMS strengths include:

  • Ease of use, simplicity
  • Modern consumer-oriented user interface
  • Mobile responsive core design and mobile apps
  • Salesforce.com integration
  • Online content creation, management and reuse
  • Productized integrations with many applications, including virtual classrooms, CRM, customer service, SSO and more
  • Reporting and dashboards for admin and end-user learners
  • Audit trails and 21 CFR Part 11 support
  • Strong support for standard and custom notifications

Weaknesses

There is room for improvement in several areas:

  • With more sophistication comes more complexity.  Docebo could improve and streamline self-service onboarding options, tutorials and guides to make the early-stage customer experience more effective.  When I logged in, the screen was so crowded with help options, my first impression was that getting started would be more complicated than it actually is.
  • Although this is my subjective opinion, I’m not a fan of tiered pricing based on functionality.  Docebo offers a low-cost option, but it tightens breadth and depth of functionality at this level.  Here’s the problem:  Let’s say your company has less than 100 users, but you want more sophisticated LMS functionality.  You’re out of luck unless you step up to a pricing tier meant for more users.  That translates into higher total cost of ownership (TCO).  Although this only affects small businesses, it may turn off prospects who could otherwise become strong, vocal brand advocates.
  • Among Docebo’s third-party connectors, I didn’t see any productized Association Management System (AMS) integrations.  Adding this capability would make the LMS more competitive with learning solutions that serve member-based organizations.
  • Increasingly, I’ve noticed a trend among rapidly growing SaaS LMS vendors.  It seems that “growing pains” tend to surface when functionality is added or enhanced.  Docebo is no exception with the admin side of the application which is due for a UI overhaul and feature consolidation.
  • In the meantime, admins are likely to be aggravated by small interface quirks.  For example, when you open a new window to create a new course, if you accidentally click outside of that window, the pop-up disappears.  This happens easily because the “next” and “save” buttons are below-the-fold of the screen.  To avoid unintentionally canceling courses, you must avoid slipping while scrolling.  After losing my way multiple times, I eventually learned to be very precise with my scrolling and clicking behavior.

My Overall Assessment

When I talk with learning technology vendors, I always ask who they see as a competitor.  Docebo is often on the short list — and for good reason.  Docebo serves a variety of industry sectors with solid LMS functionality for a reasonable price.  It supports both formal and informal learning effectively.  And because it is designed with the needs of modern learners at its core, Docebo is valuable for multiple business use cases — including employee, extended enterprise and commercial training.  Docebo’s growing sales and professional services teams can only mean more satisfied and successful customers are ahead.  Keep your eyes on these folks.

See the Video LMS Review

Want to see Docebo LMS in action?  Watch my video demo + review!

 


Docebo LMS Vitals

Company: Docebo
Product: Docebo LMS
Product Type: Learning Management System

Founded  2005

320 East Clayton Street, Suite 516
Athens, GA
USA

info@docebo.com

https://www.docebo.com/
https://www.docebo.com/docebo-e-learning-blog/

Docebo Product Video

What is Docebo?

Docebo says:  Docebo cloud-based (SaaS) LMS is localized in 31 languages and sold in more than 90 countries.  Established in 2005, Docebo has more than 1200 active customers.  Docebo offers an enterprise solution for midsize to large organizations so they can cost-effectively implement a scalable LMS solution that adapts to their unique business needs.  Customers achieve operational efficiency while dramatically reducing TCO and rapidly implementing an easy-to-use elearning solution.

Extended Enterprise Ready  Yes
Typical Implementation Fees  $1 – $5000

Target Learning Scenarios

  • Employees
  • Channel/business partners
  • Franchises
  • Customers
  • Association members
  • For-profit training companies

Top Industries Served

  • Pharmaceutical
  • High-Technology/Software
  • Retail

License Model/Cost

  • Free 14-day trial with no credit card
  • Active User License Model:  An active user is any unique user who logs into the LMS and accesses one or more pieces of content during a 30-day billing period
  • “Starter” plan cost:  $3,900/year for up to 100 users, but sophisticated features and integrations are not available at this level
  • “Advanced” plan cost:  $9,500/year for up to 300 users, with most integrations and advanced features available
  • “Enterprise” plan cost:  For more than 300 users, you need to discuss your needs with a Docebo sales rep
  • See public pricing page at Docebo.com

Hosting and Deployment Options

  • 100% cloud, multitenant SaaS

Feature Highlights

Compliance

  • Ability to enroll learners based on custom fields, by user, group or branch
  • Customizable certificates
  • Seems light on rules for assigning content — content due dates, fixed dates, rolling dates

The screenshot below illustrates a user’s personal dashboard:

Docebo LMS Review - Product Screen Shot - Assigned Training User Interface

SEE DOCEBO LMS IN ACTION – CLICK TO WATCH JOHN LEH’S VIDEO REVIEW

Course Creation

Good content creation and management capabilities

  • Ability to create an elearning, classroom or webinar course, or wrap them up into learning paths
  • Ability to choose thumbnails and customize descriptions.  Comes with preloaded thumbnails — a simple yet brilliant ease-of-use idea
  • Build course components using SCORM, xAPI, videos, files, HTML, slides
  • Support for learner assignments and uploads
  • Import content from a central repository
  • LTI (learning tools interoperability — common in academic learning tech) opens up a world of third-party content in the corporate world
  • Incorporates assessments, surveys and tests

The screenshot below illustrates how components are added to a course:

Docebo LMS Review - Product Screen Shot - Add Content

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The screenshot below indicates what a learner sees when navigating through a course:

Docebo LMS Review - Product Screen Shot -

SEE DOCEBO LMS IN ACTION – CLICK TO WATCH JOHN LEH’S VIDEO REVIEW

 

Continuing Education Features

  • Basic creation of a blended learning path with certificate awarded upon completion
  • Re-certification support
  • Ability to assign numerical credits to a course, but doesn’t appear to allow definition of different credit types

Adaptive Learning Features

  • Automatically assign or enroll users who meet specific criteria in courses and learning plans based on rules you configure
  • Create custom fields in user profile — ability to choose those fields as group inclusion/exclusion criteria and as report filter criteria
  • Includes configurable roles
  • Custom user fields can drive content assignments

eCommerce Features

  • Browse catalog before log-in
  • Ability to create pre-log-in pages
  • Integration with Paypal and other payment gateways
  • Assign a price to a specific piece of content
  • Shopping cart and checkout
  • Subscriptions
  • Shopify integration

Gamification Features

  • Leaderboard
  • Badges and points
  • Contests with badges and points awarded — no actual awards

The screenshot below shows a learner dashboard with gamification elements

Docebo LMS Review - Product Screen Shot - Personal dashboard - individual learners can track their status and progress

Globalization Features

  • Available in 33 languages, including Farsi and Arabic (right-to-left orientation languages)
  • Ability to create custom localizations or edit localizations
  • Editing tool lets you customize and fine-tune each language localization
  • A separate “course” is required for each language version
  • You can create equivalent courses in other languages
  • Includes multi-currency support

Integration

Docebo “connectors” provide off-the-shelf integration via Advanced Programming Interfaces (APIs) with third-party systems such as HR management solutions, ecommerce applications, web conferencing tools and more.  Docebo has one of the most extensive integration lists I’ve seen.  Here are some examples of their out-of-the-box connectors:

  • Social Media — Use your log-on credentials from Facebook, Gmail, Google Apps, LinkedIn, Slack or Twitter to create LMS accounts and populate profile data
  • Content Creation — Elucidat, Lectora or any SCORM or xAPI authoring tool
  • Customer Interaction —  Salesforce.com, Vivocha and Zendesk
  • Virtual Classroom Connectors — Integrate with WebEx, Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting, BigBlueButton, BlueJeans, Sky Meeting, OnSync, TeleSkill and Zoom
  • CMS Integrations –Tie the LMS to portals, websites and blogs built in Joomla, WordPress or Drupal
  • Single Sign-On — Saml 2.0, OKTA, LDAP, Google Apps, Facebook, G Suite and LinkedIn

Mobile Features

  • Fully responsive LMS
  • Downloadable apps provide offline learning capability
  • Apps can be branded for each client, including logos and colors

Reporting

  • Summary, standard and custom reports
  • Basic minimally configurable core reports show all data and can be exported
  • Clear, coherent dashboard views for different types of users
  • Custom profile fields automatically displayed in reports
  • Advanced reporting includes a simple wizard feature that leads you through several steps to tailor a report

Social/Collaboration Features

  • Blogs tied to users, groups and courses
  • Comments and threaded discussion groups
  • Create user account and sign-on with Facebook, Twitter, Linked, Gmail and Google Apps
  • Coaching capability makes it easy to locate subject matter experts
  • Share user generated content
  • Create content channels (playlists), including optional sharing capability
  • Expert question and answer capability

User Interface

The Docebo LMS is very easy to use, very graphically oriented, with a consumer-oriented interface.

The screenshot below illustrates the modern look-and-feel of the Docebo social learning user interface:

Docebo LMS Review - Screenshot of social learning user interface shows Q&A forum. Read the full LMS Review by analyst John Leh

SEE DOCEBO IN ACTION — CLICK TO WATCH JOHN LEH’S VIDEO REVIEW

Virtual Classroom Features

  • Off-the-shelf integration with Cisco WebEx and Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting, OnSync, BigBlueButton, Zoom and Teleskill
  • Conveniently schedule webinars in the same interface you use to create any piece of content

Thanks for reading!

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About Talented Learning LMS Reviews

Talented Learning LMS Reviews provide initial screening of vendors for extended enterprise suitability.  Vendors share lots of information on their websites — feature lists, video demos, case studies, position papers, press releases, free trials and more.  We review and analyze all of this information to determine a vendor’s mission, assess the platform’s strengths and weaknesses, and determine how effectively it serves extended enterprise learning needs.

As always, at Talented Learning, we’re not about making sweeping predictions or judging vendors.  Instead, we document the realities of today’s LMS landscape, and how learning technology is actually adding value.  We have only one goal — to help clients find appropriate LMS vendors based on their unique business requirements.

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About the Author: John Leh

John Leh is Founder, CEO and Lead Analyst at Talented Learning and the Talented Learning Center. John is a fiercely independent consultant, blogger, podcaster, speaker and educator who helps organizations select and implement learning technology strategies, primarily for extended enterprise applications. His advice is based upon more than 25+years of learning-tech industry experience, serving as a trusted LMS selection and sales adviser to hundreds of learning organizations with a total technology spend of more than $100+ million and growing. John would love to connect with you on Twitter or on LinkedIn.

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